"I never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined that four years later we'd still be looking for answers as to who killed Tim, what happened, why,” said Jeff Egkan.

Jeff spoke to FOX40 via FaceTime from Southern California just a few days before the fourth anniversary of his son Tim's murder.

"September just hits us hard from the beginning ‘til the end," he said Monday.

Back in 2015, Jeff learned his 32-year-old son was found in a Stockton gutter with a deep gash in his stomach.

The person who put him there is still on the run.

"Loss is such an inadequate word. We didn't lose him, he was killed and he was taken from us," Jeff told FOX40.

For four years Tim, a developer, had been committed to building up the struggling city where he was mysteriously taken down.

“He really felt strongly about the town, the city of Stockton, and trying to revitalize it,” Jeff explained. “So, he was there, it was a business venture but he wholeheartedly believed in it and he was there just trying to help."

Shortly before he was killed, Tim got into a pushing match with a business partner. He started walking home and was just a few blocks away when he encountered a couple having a fight.

He was found dead in that same area less than 20 minutes later.

"There is, at the very least, a large coincidence there that they happened to be having a fight just prior to Tim walking by,” Jeff said. “And then, allegedly, the female participant in the dispute then told somebody that her boyfriend had been in an argument with Tim."

That couple and their quick move out of town right after the killing were scrutinized by the retired Stockton police detective turned private investigator the Egkans hired two years ago.

Jerry Swanson revealed his findings on an episode of “Crime Watch Daily” featuring Tim's story and sent them to Stockton police. According to Swanson, nothing came of it.

Aside from not having calls from the department returned, Tim's father said the family has also been denied access to the 911 call from the fight that happened right before his son was found.

"And the reason, the justification for that denial was that they said that it was that 911 call was linked to an active investigation and then the active investigation, of course, is the homicide of our son," he told FOX40.

The detective in charge of Stockton's cold cases was unavailable for comment Monday night.

There is still a $40,000 reward for information leading to an arrest about what happened Sept. 13, 2015, at North Lincoln and West Poplar streets in Stockton.

A podcast is also in the works to help the family get the word out about the need for tips to help solve this case.